The present invention is directed to a method for contacting a subscriber to several different wireless bearer services at a wireless communicator when the wireless communicator can only be active on one bearer service at a time.
As the availability and use of wireless communication services continues to expand and devices have become available that can transmit and receive on several different kinds of wireless networks, it has become commonplace for individual wireless users to subscribe to more than one wireless service for use with a single wireless communicator. These wireless communication bearer services transmit and receive using different formats and methods of transmission. Due to these differences between the bearer services and physical limitations of the wireless communication device itself, the wireless communicator generally can only be active on a single bearer service at any given time. This becomes a problem when a connection or message to the subscriber is desired because it is impossible to know what bearer service to use to reach the subscriber.
One solution to this problem is to have the wireless communication device notify or register with a central server whenever it changes to a different bearer service and that central server can direct any incoming messages or connection requests to use the proper bearer service. This approach has several drawbacks. First, it requires additional functionality in the wireless communicator to provide support for the registration function. It also results in increased network traffic and the need for a channel to be opened between the wireless communicator and central server every time the subscriber changes the bearer service setting on the wireless communicator.
The present invention provides an improved method for contacting the wireless communicator of a subscriber who uses multiple bearer services. When a message delivery request is received, a first wireless bearer service is selected from the group of bearer services that the subscriber uses, and a delivery is attempted on that bearer service. If no response is received from the wireless communicator after a certain amount of time has elapsed, a second bearer service is selected and a delivery is attempted on that bearer service. The process is repeated until a delivery is successful or until all of the subscriber""s bearer services have been attempted without success.
The present invention presents a solution to the problem of contacting a wireless user who subscribes to several bearer services that does not require additional functionality in the communicator or a registration connection every time the subscriber switches bearer services.